Many materials are sold, stored, and transported in containers such as large pails or buckets such as the standard five-gallon pail. While such pails are typically used for liquid materials such as paint and sealants, the pails can also be used to carry quantities of small hardware such as nails.
These kinds of containers are easily transported in bulk by the use of machinery and pallets. In order to transport a pail to a worksite, however, especially where the worksite is inaccessible to machines, for example, on a roof or a remote worksite, the container must be carried by hand. The containers are typically provided with a wire handle or bail for being carried by hand.
Carrying a container by the bail can be difficult and awkward for one person. The bail must either be held in one hand, forcing the person carrying it to bear all of the weight with the single hand, or it must be lifted by using both hands, requiring that the pail be carried in front of the person, making it difficult to walk. In both circumstances, the difficulty is made worse where the weight of the contents of the pail near or exceed an acceptably safe weight for manual transport. Because of the size of the typical five-gallon pail and the configuration of a standard bail, it is likewise awkward for two people to attempt to carry a single pail using the bail.
The object of the present invention is to provide an ergonomic carrier for containers such as pails, such containers being typified by the standard five-gallon pail used extensively for materials such as paints, sealants, and other liquid or near-liquid materials. The carrier is designed for use by two people and, because it engages the bail of the typical container, its use requires no changes or additions to the container itself.
The carrier of this invention enables two people to conveniently and safely transport a container. The carrier is constructed so as to have handles, and so as to distribute the weight of the container evenly. This allows two people to carry easily and safely a container, particularly a container weighing more than would be safe or convenient for one person to carry. The carrier of this invention is designed to allow two people carrying it to walk, unimpeded by the container or the carrier, but close enough together so as to allow the people using the carrier to navigate corridors, catwalks, stairs, and other spaces.
The carrier of this invention can be easily constructed of lightweight yet strong materials, and supports the container being carried such that the container does not swing. The carrier of this invention can be constructed so that it stands upright ready for use, whether or not a container has been engaged, or can be constructed without supporting members.
Carriers known to the prior art, such as those exemplified by the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,499, require that the container be lifted and inserted onto supporting shelves such that the container engages slots or other supporting members. The carrier of this invention differs in many respects from such carriers, particularly in that the carrier of this invention is designed to enable the users to lift and carry a container without first lifting and positioning the container in the carrier. These and other features of the carrier of this invention distinguish it from carriers already known to the art.